"And with the visit from the Kiplings at the end of next month, that concludes your calendar until the Alpha ball in May," Maria said calmly as she made a final notation on the legal pad in her hand. "Oh, and Pack Alpha Hunt has reached back out. She's still willing to loan us any resources if Jason wants to inspect the territory with the master and mistress beta next month." The petite brunette looked up to see her aunt and uncle trading looks, speaking silently over their mate bond. She waited patiently.
Vraal nodded finally to his niece's comment as he turned his attention back to her. He watched as she began to lean forward in her chair, expecting her next command. "Thank you. That'll be all, Maria. Send in Doctor Nelson, please. And alert Thomas we will want to speak with him and Daniel before the end of their shift."
The D'Angelo wolf paused as she got up to leave. "Doctor Nelson?" she asked for clarification. Surely they didn't mean one of the Pack's most ruthless men. Despite his small and meek appearance, no one wanted to be on the receiving end of the doctor's attention. Gossip said he tortured vampires and other supernaturals to learn about their abilities. "I thought he was released from his assignments to go back to Europe."
Victoria rolled her eyes and moved to sit at her grand desk from standing by the window. "I ordered him back. I have another special case for him. Now, send him in."
Maria nodded quickly as she picked up her pace of arranging the calendar and folders in her fingers. She pulled the clipboard and paper close to her chest as she tried to get a read on her aunt's emotions. But the queen alpha had closed off her influence like a steel trap, only the dominance of forcing a command remaining. "Yes, of course, Aunt Victoria," she said, beginning to head for the door.
"And Maria," Victoria said from behind her, bringing the petite wolf to another abrupt pause before she could reach for the doorknob. "Jason doesn't need to know of this project just yet... He should be focusing on other avenues, such as addressing Silvia Hunt's offers in South Dakota. Be a good girl and don't mention this visit to him."
Maria breathed in slowly, glancing over her shoulder hesitantly to look at her aunt again. "Yes, Aunt Victoria. I won't say anything."
"Good. Our little secret then. Send in the doctor."
Maria nodded again and pushed the door open. A sick, twisting sensation filled her gut and she fought the urge to grimace at the thought of why she had been commanded to silence, and why Doctor Nelson—the infamous Butcher—was back again at Meadowlark.
The sound of the door closing followed before it was pushed open again. The man who walked in was also short in stature with a receding hairline and glasses. He was dressed in a suit, his tie crooked. His clothes fit as though they were a size too big and his glasses were smudged. A leather medical bag was clutched in his grip as he strode in. He came before the ruling alphas and bowed his head deeply in submission.
"Doctor Nelson," Vraal greeted. "Good to see you again."
"Thank you, King Alpha. I believe I come bearing some new developments on your project that you tasked me with earlier this year." He pulled a file folder from his bag and placed it on the desk. "This is everything I have found so far."
Victoria smiled widely from her chair as she pulled out the key to her desk and unlocked a drawer. "I was hoping you would say that," she answered. She pulled out a clear medical tube from her drawer and sat it on the desk. In it was a long buccal swab that was smeared with dark red. "I want this cross-tested with your samples."
The man nodded and stepped forward. He glanced at the label and then the contents, his eyes squinting from behind his glasses. "The Mezdor half-blood?" he asked.
The queen alpha nodded, leaning back in her chair as she crossed her legs gracefully. "Yes, we got our first taste of what she is capable of while she stayed within these halls. We were quite surprised of how she can perform when put into a fight. She is different than the other half-bloods we have seen in recent decades. I want to know why... I want to know how her gene works, and I want it replicated."
The doctor looked from the queen to the king as he nodded in agreement.
"The girl runs on all fours, in her fur," Vraal supplied when the man looked confused. "We are quickly learning that not all hybrids are the same."
"Queen Alpha, you flatter my skills," Doctor Nelson said, his eyebrows rising as he looked at her after inspecting the tube one more time. "I've already discovered on how the hybrid gene skips around within family trees. My old lab subject and its full medical history were quite telling. But alas, my testing to learn all that I have has exhausted his body. I won't be able to use him to further experiment with the Mezdor half-blood's gene."
"You need another test subject?" Vraal asked before taking a sip of the whiskey that swished around the bottom of his glass. "It's well-known you like to use your tools, Doctor," he added when the balding man clenched his jaw, unsure of how to answer.
"Not to mention all the other things I have brought before this Alphahood for more than thirty-five years. And because of that, I have discovered all of the genealogy with how the half-blood mutation happens and what it does on a cellular level," Doctor Nelson explained. "But I have not been able to learn how to replicate it or study how we can then utilize it for our own use... Which I know is something you are highly interested in," he added, looking at the queen alpha again.
"Yes," Victoria said slowly, her gaze turning intense as the man tried to explain his limited scope of what she had initially requested.
"If you would like for me to further experiment on how it works on a half-blood body and how we can apply it to a pure host, I will need more than this sample. Especially if this Mezdor girl is so different," the middle-aged man said, his eyebrow rising again as he looked from one alpha to the other. "I'll also need a full facility to perform the procedures. And I will need a half-blooded subject."
Victoria smiled with closed lips as her eyes lit up. She reached for her wine glass without breaking her gaze from the doctor. "That can be arranged..."